Author's note: Totally different storyline, guys. It's gonna take a while to get used to. Some people will not be in this story that were in my other story. And there will be new characters as well. You'll have to read to see what I've changed, and whether or not I've changed it for the better. :)

Night had fallen, and the entire house was dark; everything except for the hall light that Melinda kept on at night for Kyle. The boys were sleeping peacefully in their toddler beds, which they had no problem escaping from in the middle of the night. Melinda was sleeping soundly, too, in her bed, by herself. Jim had taken an extra shift at work, so he wouldn't be home until two in the morning. All snoring aside, downstairs you could hear several pairs of footsteps- footstep, after footstep, after footstep. These unusually quiet footsteps, surprisingly, had woken Kyle. His eyes jolted open and he sat up in a frantic panic. His eyes ran around the room, as if he was looking for someone. He grabbed the ends of his feety pajamas and breathed in deeply. He continued to look around. He saw nothing but darkness. His brother was sleeping heavily through the night. His toddler bed laid right next to his brother's. Kyle let go of his feet, and clutched tightly to his bear. His teeth started to chatter. He knew, in his heart, that something was wrong.

"John?" Kyle whispered, quietly. No answer.

"John?" He said, louder this time.

His brother remained asleep. Kyle watched his brother drooling and shuddered to himself; disgusted by his brother's lack of intelect.

Kyle stood up. "John!" He whispered, loudly, throwing his bear at John to wake him up.

It didn't work. His brother was still asleep, and worse, his bear was in his brother's bed now. Kyle gave in, and pushed down the gate of his toddler bed. He got out and, quietly, slipped his way downstairs. He was very careful and very silent. He needed to make sure he was agile enough so he wouldn't be caught. He tiptoed halfway down the stairs and peered around the wall to look into the kitchen and living room. He gasped in fear when he saw two men downstairs. They were dressed in black and they appeared to be looking for something. Kyle scrruied his was back upstairs attempting to wake up his brother. He ran right up to the gate of John's toddler bed and whispered in his ear. Up on his toes, he called out to him.

"John!" He said, at a low volume.

It didn't matter any more. His brother wasn't waking up any time soon. Kyle tiptoed quickly to Melinda's room, turning the doorknob with great care. He left the door ajar to a certain degree and walked over to his mother's side of the bed. He got down on his knees and tapped her shoulder.

"Momma?" He said, quietly, his voice shaking in fear.

Melinda awoke slowly, but sprung up when she saw the terrified look on her son's face.

"Kyle?" Melinda sat up. "What's the matter K.C?" Melinda rubbed her eyes for a moment, then she lifted her son onto the bed.

Kyle breathed in deeply and wiped the tears away from his eyes. "There's someone downstairs." He whispered.

"What!?" Melinda said, at a moderately loud volume.

Kyle put his finger to his lips." Shhhh." He whispered, trying to quiet Melinda.

"'Someone' someone? or ... a ghost someone?" She asked, relatively scared. Kyle isn't too afraid of ghosts, so Melinda was pretty sure she knew the answer.

Kyle leaned in. "'Someone' someone."

Kyle started to cry again. Melinda held her son close. "It's okay, baby ... I'm gonna take care of it." She looked at her son. "Go back into your room and lock the door. I'll get you when everything is okay." Kyle nodded his head and did exactly what he was told.

Melinda got out of bed and pulled out a bat from underneath the bed. She breathed in deeply and slowly walked downstairs.

Each footstep made her more and more frightened. She took about four steps down and then stopped. She looked back around at the door that led to her sons' room. She waited to continued down the stairs until she heard the door lock. She took each step very slowly, breathing in and out, every other step. When she made it halfway down the stairs, she looked around the wall to into the kitchen and living room. No one was there, and the entire house was silent. No one appeared to be in the house, but she decided to double-check, just for the safety of her kids. She looped around the couch and peered into the kitchen from afar. Before she entered the kitchen, she walked toward the living room closet. She readied her bat as she flung the door open. No one was there. She took another good look and closed the door. She walked, stealthily, into the kitchen and looked out the back window. And, still, no one was there. She turned, quickly, to check the dining room, where no one was. She had searched the entire downstairs, and not a single person was to be found. She walked back into the living room and lowered her stance with the bat. She moved the curtain on the door to look outside and, still, she found no one. She took one more good look at the dark street, just to be safe. No one appeared to be downstairs. Melinda thought it was just Kyle's imagination. Or maybe he really saw a ghost and he didn't know it. Everything seemed fine. Just as Melinda was ready to go upstairs, she felt a huge force- someone pulling at her hair. There really was someone in the house! The man grabbed her hair and threw Melinda against the wall, making her bleed. The bat flew out of her hand, and she went after it. She crawled over to the bat and threw it at him. When he fell to the ground, she got up. She took a couple steps back, and then another man grabbed her ankles and pulled, making Melinda fall to the ground. She resisted being dragged by holding onto the wall. The man let go of one of her ankles and grabbed her hair. He then let go of the other ankle and grabbed her arms. He lifted her up and threw her onto the kitchen counter tops with great force. Before she could blink, he pulled out a knife from his back pocket and went straight for Melinda's neck. She grabbed the handle with both hands and the two had a struggle. Melinda could feel him getting ready to put more force, so she reached over and grabbed and ice pick, that was sitting on the counter, and stabbed his neck. The man dropped his knife and screamed out in pain. Melinda scattered her way off of the counter and ran for the phone. Behind her, came the first man. He, brutally, grabbed her neck and threw her onto the dining room table. He also pulled out a knife and, this time, aimed for her chest. She rolled over and dodged the first attack, as well as the second. Then, without thought, she elbowed him in the face. She tried to get up when the other man came up and grabbed her neck. She positioned herself and swung her leg up to kick him in the face. He fell back to the ground, and Melinda jolted up. The first man came back up and chased after her with a knife. He jumped on the table to catch her, but Melinda threw a chair at him. He fell back down. She ran back into the living room, and the second man grabbed her neck and threw her against the wall- not once, or twice, but three times. She fought back and kneed him in the groin. He cried out in pain. She ran off and the first man chased after her. She stopped and grabbed the lamp, then she swung it, hitting him in the head. This time, he didn't fall. He came closer and decked her. She fell to the ground. She started to crawl away, but the second man grabbed her hair and bashed her head into the coffee table, knocking her out. The last thing she saw, before everything turned black, was one of the men taking off his black mask. The other man grabbed her neck and held his hands there until she blacked out.

Author's note: OOOOOOHHHHHHH, don't hate me yet guys. It might have a happy ending ... Keep reading to find out!